Computer protection against malware affection

ABSTRACT

A method is provided of protecting a computer against malware affection. The computer has a data storage and an operating system for managing the data storage. The method comprises providing a filter module in the operating system which operates to detect an attempt to store data in the data storage, to determine a data format of the data to be stored in the data storage, and to prevent storage of the data if the data format is determined to relate to a predefined type. The filter module may be provided as a file system filter driver in a kernel of the operating system. The filter module may be arranged to operate between an input/output manager of the operating system and a driver associated with the data storage. The input/output manager and driver associated with the data storage may form part of the kernel of the operating system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to computer protection againstmalware affection and more particularly to a computer program productand a method for protecting a computer against malware affection andwith a computer protected against malware affection.

2. Description of the Related Art

Malware is a short term used in the art for malicious softwaresummarizing computer programs performing actions on computer systemswithout the consent of a user, often developed for the purpose of doingharm to the computer system or the user, and comprises for exampleso-called viruses, worms, Trojan horses, backdoors and spyware. Theintended actions of malware widely varies and include stealing users'personal information, stealing other data, abusing the computer systemor simply vandalize.

Usually a target computer is first attacked by malware in a warheadphase exploiting weaknesses of the computer systems, as for exampleproducing a buffer overrun, for enabling a propagation phase. Thewarhead phase is executed by a very small program code portion of themalware. In the propagation phase the body program code of the malwareis transferred to the target computer. Typically several phases followthe propagation phase by executing the body program code as for examplea target selection phase, in which the malware is seeking for othercomputers accessible from the target computer, a scanning phase, inwhich accessible other computers are checked to be suitable targetcomputers for further propagation, and a payload phase, in which theintended purposes of the malware are performed.

To prevent malware affecting a computer system several protections areknown in the art as for example virus filters running on computers orfirewalls controlling the traffic between connected computer systems.These protections recognize malware using malware descriptions whichdefine specific characteristics of certain malware. They usually analyzedata, check if the data shows some of the specific characteristics andtake action if the data is identified as being malware. For example, thedata is deleted or quarantined. A common technique for analyzing thedata is pattern matching, wherein the data is scanned for predefinedspecific bit patterns defined to be malware bit patterns in the malwaredescriptions. The analysis usually is quite processing-intensive and canreduce the performance of the computer system. The effectiveness of theabove described protections is highly dependent on the up-to-dateness ofthe malware descriptions since malware is only recognized after themalware descriptions have been updated. Nevertheless, in the time periodbetween the deployment of malware and the update of the malwaredescriptions in the computer system the computer system is vulnerable.It is therefore a delicate, difficult, labour-intensive andcost-intensive task to update the descriptions as fast as possible,which is usually done by specialized service providers.

Schmid et al “Protecting data from malicious software”, Proc. 18^(th)Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, 2002, 9-13 Dec. 2002,Piscataway, N.J., USA, IEEE, describes an application calledFileMonster®. The FileMonster® application uses a driver that works atthe imaginary boundary between the user mode and protected kernel space;it intercepts at the point where user mode function calls are translatedinto kernel API calls, i.e. using service dispatch tables mapping. Thisis an undocumented approach.

The W32/Swen.A@mm worm that appeared in September 2003 is described inFrisk Software International: “W32/Swen.A@mm” (retrievable from theInternet athttp://web.archive.org/web/20040411010214/http://www.f-prot.com/virusinfo/print/descriptions/swena.html).As a way to persist on the victim computer, the worm made auto-startentries in the Registry so that the system would load the worm'sexecutable code on boot up. A random name was used for the worm's imagefile to avoid detection, i.e. <random_characters>.exe.

Winability Software Corp's “Folder Guard User's Guide—Using the filters”(retrievable from the Internet at:http://web.archive.org/web/20041023085327/www.winability.com/folderguard/users-guide_filters.htm;see alsohttp://www.winability.com/folderguard/users-guide-printable.htm)describes a system that stops other users from opening or seeing auser's personal files; it can also protect sensitive system files frommodification or destruction. Folder Guard allows and disallows programexecution using a white list (explicitly allowing certain applicationsto run) and a black list (explicitly disallowing certain applications torun). This implies the program files already exist on the computer, andFolder Guard performs check to allow or disallow when the program isable to run.

The McAfee® Security “Product Guide—VirusScan Enterprise version 7.0” (7Mar. 2003) document describes a virus scanning, detection and removalprogram that can use of file extensions to allow a user to configure theprogram scanning behaviours. Based on the user's selection, the programcan scan the file on ‘read’ access, ‘write access’ or ‘on network’. Theapplication uses conventional scanning and pattern matching techniquesto detect viruses. Similarly, the “Sophos® Antivirus—Windows NT/2000/XPsingle user installation guide” describes an application that scans afile for virus detection on a read access, or on write and otheraccesses.

EP-A-1,429,247 (Microsoft Corporation) relates to a new approach as tohow a file system filter driver should be implemented.

Other known techniques are disclosed in: (a) “Inside On-Access VirusScanners”, M. Russinovich, Windows & .NET Magazine Network, September1997 (1997-09); (b) WO 01/61473; and (c) WO 02/061557.

In view of the disadvantages of the hitherto-known, above describedprotections against malware affection, it is desirable to provide animproved, effective, fast and easy to maintain computer protectionagainst malware.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of protecting a computer against malware affection, thecomputer having a data storage and an operating system for managing thedata storage, the method comprising providing a filter module in theoperating system which operates to detect an attempt to store data inthe data storage, to determine a data format of the data to be stored inthe data storage, and to prevent storage of the data if the data formatis determined to relate to a predefined type, characterised in that thefilter module operates to prevent storage of the data to a new file onthe data storage not derived from a previously existing file on the datastorage, and in that the predefined type of data format is an executabledata format, thereby acting to thwart malware at its propagation phaseby preventing it from saving its execution code to the data storage.

The filter module may be provided as a file system filter driver in akernel of the operating system.

The filter module may be arranged to operate between an input/output(I/O) manager of the operating system and a driver associated with thedata storage.

The input/output (I/O) manager may form part of a kernel of theoperating system.

The driver associated with the data storage may form part of a kernel ofthe operating system.

The method may comprise the file system filter driver receiving at leastwrite access calls from the input/output (I/O) manager intended for thekernel driver associated with the data storage, blocking such writeaccess calls relating to data of the format of the predefined type, andsuch passing write access calls not so relating.

The method may comprise informing the input/output (I/O) manager aboutthe blocking and optionally passing of such write access calls.

The method may comprise arranging for I/O Request Packets that are sentfrom the input/output (I/O) manager and intended for the driverassociated with the storage to be re-routed via the filter module, there-routed I/O Request Packets being at least those of a type enablingthe filter module to detect an attempt to store data in the datastorage.

The method may comprise querying a function code of a re-routed I/ORequest Packet at the filter module to detect an attempt to store datain the data storage

The re-routed I/O Request Packets may comprise those relating to thecreation of a new file in the data storage.

The re-routed I/O Request Packets may comprise those having orassociated with an IRP_MJ_CREATE function code.

The re-routed I/O Request Packets may comprise those relating to thewriting to an existing file on the storage. The existing file may be arecently-created file.

The re-routed I/O Request Packets may comprise those having orassociated with an IRP_MJ_WRITE function code.

The method may comprise blocking a re-routed I/O Request Packet at thefilter module if it is determined that the format of the data to bestored by way of that I/O Request packet is of the predefined type.

The method may comprise determining the format of the data to be storedby examining the intended file extension of the file to be created.

The method may comprise determining the format of the data to be storedby examining a predetermined portion of the file to be written, forexample its file header. The file header may be the Portable ExecutableFile Format (PE) file header.

The method may comprise referring to at least one parameter associatedwith the filter module preferably stored in a protected manner in thedata storage, and determining the behaviour of the filter module atleast in part in dependence on the at least one parameter.

The method may comprise running a protected administration module whichallows a verified user to adapt the at least one parameter.

The method may comprise storing the at least one parameter in aprotected part of a system database of the operating system. The systemdatabase may comprise the Registry.

The method may comprise reading the at least one parameter during thebooting of the computer.

The at least one parameter may comprise a predefined blocking fileextension as the predefined type, and comprising the filter moduledetecting the format of the data to be stored by comparing a specificfile extension of the data to the predefined blocking file extension.

The at least one parameter may comprise a flag, wherein the flag is ableto be set to a predefined status, and comprising the filter modulechecking the flag and preventing storage of the data if the flag is setto the predefined status.

The at least one parameter may comprise a non-block user identification,and comprising the filter module checking the non-block useridentification as well as an active user identification and allowing thestorage of the data if the non-block user identification matches theactive user identification.

The method may comprise providing an administration application to allowa user to alter the behaviour of the filter module by sending the filtermodule runtime instructions.

The method may comprise using the administration application to turn offblocking temporarily.

The administration application may be operable to alter the behaviour ofthe filter module by changing, or causing the filter module to change,at least one of the at least one parameter.

The method may comprise authenticating the administration application tothe filter module.

The method may comprise the filter module storing a name or identifierof the filter module in a protected manner in the data storage in such away that only the administration application can reasonably learn of thename or identifier and thereby communicate with the filter module.

The method may comprise registering the name in the operating system.

The name or identifier of the filter module may be stored in a protectedmanner in the data storage by changing it from time to time duringruntime.

The method may comprise authenticating the administration application tothe filter module using a cryptographic authentication method.

The method may comprise logging activities of the filter module.

The format of the data to be stored may be determined by examining thestructure of the data. The filter module may operate to prevent storageof such data to any part of the storage.

The operating system may be one of the Windows® family of operatingsystems.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedmethod of thwarting malware at its propagation phase by performing amethod according to the first aspect of the present invention so as toblock any unauthorised attempt to write any data to the data storagethat could potentially constitute malware, thereby preventing themalware from propagating.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedmethod of administrating a computer having a kernel driver and anadministration application that communicates with the kernel driverduring runtime, comprising authenticating the administration applicationto the kernel driver.

The method may comprise using a cryptographic method to authenticate theadministration application to the kernel driver.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of authenticating an administration application to a kerneldriver for use in a method according to the third aspect of the presentinvention, comprising using a dynamic driver identifier that is made tochange during runtime in a way such that only the administrationapplication can reasonably learn of the current driver identifier andthereby communicate with the kernel driver.

The kernel driver may be a file system filter driver.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is providedcomputer comprising a data storage, an operating system for managing thedata storage, and a filter module provided in the operating system forprotecting the computer against malware affection, the filter modulebeing adapted to detect an attempt to store data in the data storage, todetermine a data format of the data to be stored in the data storage,and to prevent storage of the data if the data format is determined torelate to a predefined type, characterised in that the filter module isadapted to prevent storage of the data to a new file on the data storagenot derived from a previously existing file on the data storage, and inthat the predefined type of data format is an executable data format,the filter module thereby being adapted to thwart malware at itspropagation phase by preventing it from saving its execution code to thedata storage.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is providedcomputer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer tocarry out a method according to the first aspect of the presentinvention.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program which, when loaded into a computer, causesthe computer to become one according to the fifth aspect of the presentinvention.

The computer program may be carried on a carrier medium. The carriermedium may be a transmission medium. The carrier medium may be a storagemedium.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a computer programproduct for protecting a computer against malware affection, wherein thecomputer has a data storage and an operating system managing the datastorage. The computer program product comprises computer readableprogram code means for causing the computer to run a filter module. Thecomputer readable program code means cause the computer to run thefilter module in the operating system, and the filter module isconfigured to detect a format of data to be stored or altered in thedata storage. The filter module prevents storage or alteration of thedata if the format is of a predefined type. By predefining the types offormat of malware data, which typically is any format executable by theoperating system, the filter module interferes the malware life cycle atthe critical point of its propagation phase by preventing the storage ofthe malware in the data storage. Without propagation the malware is notable to execute its payload and is effectively terminated. The detectionof the format can easily happen without any prior knowledge aboutcurrent malware and without further data analysis such as scanning thedata and searching for specific bit patterns. The running filter moduleprotects the computer in an efficient and fast way, e.g. as a puresoftware implementation, against known and future malware using thepredefined data format types, with no need of updating any malwaredescriptions and irrespective to operating system privileges of callerprocesses and threads. It also protects the computer against malwareusing common mechanisms to bypass its detection such as polymorphism andrenaming files. Because the computer runs the filter module in theoperating system, the protection against malware is effective on allcurrent data storage devices accessible by the computer as well as allfuture data storage devices accessible by the computer without requiringany adaptation related to the malware protection.

In a preferred embodiment the program code means are adapted to causethe computer to run the filter module as a file system filter driver ina kernel of the operating system. This assures that all read/writeaccess requests originated from any user mode application or from anysystem process, which are directed to any data storage device associatedto the computer, are treated by the filter module. The filter modulerunning in the kernel does not have any additional impact on thebehaviour or the performance of the computer. Since the kernel of theoperating system is launched at a very early stage of the bootingprocess of the computer, the malware protection is effective fromscratch and especially before system processes are running Furthermore,running the filter module in the kernel allows a malware protectionirrespective of users' operating system access rights or the operatingsystem access rights of a user simulated by the malware.

Preferably the program code means are adapted to cause the computer torun the file system filter driver configured to receive read and writeaccess calls from an input/output manager of the kernel and furtherconfigured to block write access calls related to data of the format ofthe predefined type. Further the program code means are adapted to runthe file system filter driver configured to inform the input/outputmanager about the blocking and finally to transfer non-blocked read andwrite access calls to further system drivers of the kernel. Because thefile system filter driver receives the read and write access calls fromthe input/output manager and not directly from an application running ina user mode of the computer, the filter driver is independent of servicedispatch tables matching user mode access calls to kernel mode accesscalls. These service dispatch tables usually are not documented and notsupported by the operating system manufacturer and may change in futureversions of the operating system. By transferring non-blocked read andwrite access calls to further system drivers, i.e. file system driversas for example NTFS (New Technology File System—one of the file systemsfor the Windows NT (New Technology) operating system by MicrosoftCorporation), FAT (File Allocation Table—a file system for variousoperating systems of Microsoft Corporation) or CDFS (CD ROM (CompactDisk Read Only Memory) File System—a driver for CD ROM players used incertain operating systems of Microsoft Corporation), and not directly tohardware drivers of storage media, the filter module does not need toconsist of different classes of filter drivers, each fitting to astorage medium present on the computer, for example a local or a remotehard disk, a backup tape, a memory stick or an optical read/writedevice.

In a preferred embodiment the program code means are adapted to causethe computer to store a parameter of the filter module in a protectedmanner in the data storage, to run the filter module adjusted by theparameter, and to run a protected administration module configured toallow a verified user to adapt the parameter. Using parameters for theadjustment of the filter module is an easy way to be able to adapt themalware protection to the changing needs during life time of the malwareprotection even while it is running The administration module can beused to adapt the parameter and to trigger the adjustment of the filtermodule using the changed parameter. It is typically run as a protecteduser application.

Preferably the program code means are adapted to cause the computer tostore the parameter in a protected part of a system database of theoperating system, further to cause the computer to read the parameterwhile booting the computer, and finally to cause the computer to run thefilter module adjusted by the parameter. System databases, such as forexample the Registry of the Windows® operating systems by MicrosoftCorporation, are commonly used to store configuration information of acomputer system comprising hardware information, user information,application information, and other information. It can easily be used tostore the parameters for adjusting the filter module. In particularwhile booting the computer the parameters can be read and the filtermodule can be adjusted. This assures that the malware protection isalways customized to the needs of the user and does not run in anotherconfiguration.

In a preferred embodiment the program code means are adapted to causethe computer to run the filter module in a way to store a name of thefilter module in a protected manner in the data storage and in a way toregister the name in the operating system. Such a filter module is ableto change its name from time to time or on request, e.g. triggered by auser operating the administration module, and to register the changedname, i.e. the file system filter driver name, in the operating systemand to store the name, particularly as a parameter, in a protected partof the system database, for making it accessible to the registration ofthe filter module during the boot process of the computer. Using such adynamic name of the filter module allows the filter module to beundetectable and unreferable for programs (including malware) other thanthe administration module, which knows how and where to look up thecurrent name of the filter module.

The program code means can be adapted to cause the computer to store apredefined blocking file extension as the predefined type of data formatin a protected manner in the data storage and to run the filter modulein a way to detect the format of the data to be stored or to be alteredby comparing a specific file extension of the data to the predefinedblocking file extension. The extension of a data file is a common way todefine the data format of a data file and consists for example of a dotand few letters attached to the name of the data file, i.e. Windowsoperating systems by Microsoft Corporation use in general a dot andthree letters following the file name to specify the data format e.g.“.doc”, “.xls” or “.txt”. The file extension can be used as anindication if a data file is potentially executable by the operatingsystem and therefore be potential malware. A list of such potentialmalware file extensions can be stored in the data storage, in particularas parameters in a protected part of the system database, in order to becompared to the file extension of the data to be stored or to be alteredin the data storage. For Windows operating systems by MicrosoftCorporation This can for example be a list comprising the extensions“.COM”, “.EXE”, “.DLL”, “.BAT”, “.CMD”, “.OCX”, “.VBS”, “.PIF”, “.SCR”,“.CHM”, “.DRV”, “.HTA”, “.SHS”, “.WMA”, “.WSF”, “.WSH”, “.CPL”, “.CAB”.

Preferably the program code means are adapted to cause the computer tostore a flag in a protected manner in the data storage, wherein the flagis able to be set to a predefined status. The filter module isconfigured to check the flag, and is further configured to detect theformat of the data to be stored or to be altered as well as to preventthe storage or alteration of the data if the flag is set to thepredefined status. Such a flag, in particular stored as a parameter in aprotected part of the system database, can be used to switch the filtermodule on or off during the boot process of the computer, or triggeredby the administration module. For example, there can be the need toswitch the filter module off to be able to store data files of a blockedpredefined data format in the data storage, e.g. during installation ofnew software on the computer.

The program code means can be adapted to cause the computer to store anon-block user identification in a protected manner in the data storage,and to run the filter module in a manner to check the non-block useridentification as well as an active user identification, and tointercept the prevention of the storage or alteration of the data if thenon-block user identification matches the active user identification.The storage of such non-block user identifications, in particular asparameters in a protected part of the system database, can be useful toease the administration of a computer on which often data of the blockedpredefined format is regularly saved, e.g. by installation of software.A user who is identified as a non-block user bypasses the filter modulein a secure controlled way.

Preferably the program code means are adapted to cause the computer tolog activities of the filter module. The log of the activities of thefilter module can e.g. be used to analyze the effectiveness of themalware protection, to find unwanted data file filtration, or just forstatistical reasons.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a computerprotected against malware affection having a data storage and anoperating system managing the data storage. The computer is configuredto run a filter module in the operating system, wherein the filtermodule is configured to detect a format of data to be stored or alteredin the data storage and to prevent storage or alteration of the data ifthe format is of a predefined type.

The advantages of the computer protected against malware affection andof its preferred embodiments are the same as the advantages of thecorresponding computer program product and the corresponding preferredembodiments of the computer program product. They are therefore notexplicitly repeated and can be found above.

In a preferred embodiment the computer is adapted to run the filtermodule as a file system filter driver in a kernel of the operatingsystem.

Preferably the file system filter driver is configured to receive readand write access calls from an input/output manager of the kernel.Further, it is configured to block write access calls related to data ofthe format of the predefined type, to inform the input/output managerabout the blocking and to transfer non-blocked read and write accesscalls to further system drivers of the kernel.

In a preferred embodiment the computer is adapted to store a parameterof the filter module in a protected manner in the data storage. Thefilter module is configured to run adjusted by the parameter, and thecomputer is adapted to run a protected administration module allowing averified user to adapt the parameter.

Preferably the computer is adapted to store the parameter in a protectedpart of a system database of the operating system, further to read theparameter while booting, and finally to run the filter module adjustedby the parameter.

In a preferred embodiment the filter module is configured to store aname of the filter module in a protected manner in the data storage andto register the name in the operating system.

The computer can be adapted to store a predefined blocking fileextension as the predefined type in a protected manner in the datastorage, wherein the filter module is configured to detect the format ofthe data to be stored or to be altered by comparing a specific fileextension of the data to the predefined blocking file extension.

Preferably the computer is adapted to store a flag in a protected mannerin the data storage. The flag is able to be set to a predefined status,and the filter module is configured to check the flag and to detect theformat of the data to be stored or to be altered as well as to preventthe storage or alteration of the data if the flag is set to thepredefined status.

The computer can be adapted to store a non-block user identification ina protected manner in the data storage. The filter module is configuredto check the non-block user identification as well as an active useridentification and to intercept the prevention of the storage or of thealteration of the data if the non-block user identification matches theactive user identification.

Preferably the computer is adapted to log activities of the filtermodule.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method forprotecting a computer against malware affection, the computer having adata storage and an operating system managing the data storage. Themethod comprises the steps of running a filter module in the operatingsystem, with the filter module detecting a data format of data to bestored or altered in the data storage and preventing the storage oralteration of the data if the format is of a predefined type.

The advantages of the method and of its preferred embodiments are thesame as the advantages of the corresponding computer program product andthe corresponding preferred embodiments of the computer program product.They are therefore not explicitly repeated and can be found above.

In a preferred embodiment the filter module is run as a file systemfilter driver in a kernel of the operating system.

Preferably the method comprises the steps of the file system filterdriver receiving read and write access calls from an input/outputmanager of the kernel, blocking write access calls related to data ofthe format of the predefined type, informing the input/output managerabout the blocking and transferring non-blocked read and write accesscalls to further system drivers of the kernel.

In a preferred embodiment the method comprises the steps of storing aparameter of the filter module in a protected manner in the datastorage, adjusting the filter module by the parameter, and running aprotected administration module which allows a verified user to adaptthe parameter.

Preferably the method comprises the steps of storing the parameter in aprotected part of a system database of the operating system, reading theparameter while booting the computer and adjusting the filter moduleusing the parameter.

In a preferred embodiment the method comprises the steps of the filtermodule storing a name of the filter module in a protected manner in thedata storage and registering the name in the operating system.

The method can comprise the steps of storing a predefined blocking fileextension as the predefined type in a protected manner in the datastorage and detecting the format of the data to be stored or to bealtered by comparing a specific file extension of the data to thepredefined blocking file extension by the filter module.

Preferably the method comprises the steps of storing a flag in aprotected manner in the data storage, wherein the flag is able to be setto predefined status, the filter module checking the flag, detecting theformat of the data to be stored or to be altered, and preventing thestorage or alteration of the data if the flag is set to the predefinedstatus.

The method can comprise the steps of storing a non-block useridentification in a protected manner in the data storage, the filtermodule checking the non-block user identification as well as an activeuser identification and the filter module intercepting the prevention ofthe storage or alteration of the data if the non-block useridentification matches the active user identification.

Preferably the method comprises the step of logging activities of thefilter module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram schematically illustrating components of acomputer system which are of relevance for a protection against malwareaffection according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating the architecture of animplementation of the inventive computer protection against malwareaffection;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating operation of an embodiment of thepresent invention to block the writing of a certain type of file whileallowing the writing of another type;

FIG. 4 is an diagram for illustrating in more detail the processing ofan I/O request in the kernel within the context of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a program logic flow of an inventivecomputer protection against malware affection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before proceeding to a description of a specific embodiment of thepresent invention, an overview will first be provided. An embodiment ofthe present invention is founded on the basis that:

-   -   All running processes on a computer are executable code,        including malware;    -   Executable code must be accessible on a computer to load and        run, i.e. stored on disk; and therefore    -   Malware cannot run or spread to other computers without        execution code on a computer.

As mentioned above, the typical infection cycle of malware is (1) tocause its executable code to be stored on a computer using various meansusually not in a user control or knowledge, (2) execute its code and (3)continue to spread its code to other computers, i.e. infectionspreading. An embodiment of the present invention breaks malwareinfection by denying malware the ability to write its execution code tocomputers, which is critical in the malware life cycle. Malwaretypically exists in computer systems as a runnable program which isidentified by its file extension. A few samples of executable fileextensions on Microsoft® Windows® platforms are *.exe, *.dll, *.ocx*.vbs, and there are others. Robustly blocking these program files frombeing saved to a computer effectively stops malware infection.

The following uses a worm attack life cycle as an example to illustratethis in more detail.

-   -   1. A typical attack begins with what virus researchers called        “warhead attack”. A warhead is very small part of the malware        code that exploits identified system vulnerabilities, e.g.        buffer overrun attacks, to enable it to run on a computer. The        warhead code is necessarily small with very limited functions;        the infamous SQL Slammer has a warhead of 376 bytes.    -   2. The next step is to transfer the worm execution body code to        the victim computer, i.e. saving a copy of the malware program        file, and execute the code. This is known as the malware's        “propagation phase”. If successful, the malware seeks out other        victims and continues its infection spread.    -   3. If a worm is not stopped, the rest of its cycle can be        categorised as “target selection”, where it locates other        networked computers, “vulnerability scanning” to identify other        vulnerable computers, and “payload attack” when it performs the        intended malicious actions on the victim computer.

An embodiment of the present invention intercepts malware's life cycleat the critical point of propagation, i.e. saving its execution code ina program file to permanent storage. Without propagation, the malwarecannot run its payload and is effectively terminated. Under the Windows®operating system, all file saving operations require system kernelservices and no programs, including malware, can write to hardwaredirectly, because of Windows® operating system's design and internalprotection.

An embodiment of the present invention proactively protects computerfrom malware infection without using conventional methods. In one modeof operating an embodiment of the present invention, all executablefiles are blocked from being written to a computer that have not had theuser's explicit approval. The term “malware” is used to describe virus,worm, Trojan, spyware, adware, rootkits and all unwanted softwareapplications.

On Microsoft® Windows® platforms, all application programs require itsexecutable code (image file) to reside on the hard disk (storage media)in order that the system can load the image file to memory and run. Fromthe operating system perspective, malware is just another form ofapplication program, which must have its execution code residing on thesystem disk to carry out its ‘unwanted action’ from the user'sperspective. Malware spreads infection by transferring its executioncode to a user computer by tricks and exploiting vulnerabilities on thesystem, e.g. buffer overrun attacks or email attachment.

Without execution code on a computer, malware will not be able to infecta computer nor spread to other computers. An embodiment of the presentinvention indiscriminately denies writing of executable files tohardware storage, at the file system level such as NTFS and FAT. Anembodiment of the present invention scrutinizes kernel instructions(rather than API calls) to the file system to write files. It has adeny-write-by-default policy, and a feature is built in to allow writingof executables if a user explicitly approves them. Such a feature isnecessary for the user to install new software and patching systemfiles.

An embodiment of the present invention differs from anti-virus,anti-spyware, rootkit detection tools in protection methods in thefollowing respects:

-   -   No pattern scanning—Anti-virus and anti-spyware products rely on        scanning existing and incoming files against known malware        signatures to detect virus/malware, e.g. McAfee®, Sophos®, and        other major anti-virus products use this approach. Shortcomings        are that this only works against known malware in the pattern        database, and also degraded system performance.    -   No behaviour anomaly detection—Used by most anti-spyware tools        and some newer anti-virus products. They monitor and intercept        ‘unusual’ API calls, and ‘unexpected’ application behaviours,        and flagged detection when anomaly is found. False-positive        ratio is high and it is relatively easy to bypass by malware.    -   No system calls interception—Some tools intercept and        manipulates system calls. They route API calls to their        interceptor functions and manipulate the call by changing        parameters or returning an execution failure status to the        caller and not calling the requested API call, e.g. the        FileMonster® application [see reference above and        http://www.cigital.com/labs/projects/1021/]. This is not a        Microsoft® approved approach.    -   No system memory scanning—Some solutions scan system memory        similar to file-based scan and monitor memory access trying to        detect unusual usage, e.g. buffer overrun detection. This is not        proven effective against malware and is not effective to “zero        day” malware variants.

Another difference between an embodiment of the present invention andexisting anti-malware technology is that an embodiment of the presentinvention is a malware prevention technology and not a detection andclean tool like typical anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Anothertechnical difference, which will become more readily understandablefollowing the description below, is that the filter driver used in anembodiment of the present invention cannot be shut down by malicioussoftware, as seen in many anti-malware applications. An embodiment ofthe present invention is integrated into the file system and loadedautomatically during system boot up sequence.

Interception in an embodiment of the present invention is possible bytaking advantage of Windows self-protection architecture design.Briefly, Windows® enforces privilege-checking mechanisms to guaranteesystem integrity, and the concept of kernel mode (Ring 0), and user mode(Ring 3) on Intel x86 CPU. The operating system (OS) prevents directaccess to all hardware devices, such as a hard disk, by a thin layer ofsystem software called the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). WhenWindows® is running, all ‘write’ accesses are provided by Kernel servicecalls. By integrating into the kernel, an embodiment of the presentinvention scrutinizes what files are allowed to be saved. This preventsemail-borne, Internet-borne and user-induced virus files from reachingthe protected computer.

FIG. 1 provides an overview of components of a computer system that areof relevance for protection against malware affection according to anembodiment of the invention. A computer 1, e.g. a personal computer, aserver, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a cellular phone, has aCPU 10 (Central Processing Unit) and RAM 11 (Random Access Memory—a typeof volatile computer memory that can be accessed randomly, meaning anybyte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes)which are involved in all processing of the computer 1. It further has adata storage 157 (see FIG. 2) comprising an internal data storage 12 andan external data storage 2 and RW Devices 13 (Read Write Devices). Theinternal data storage 12 usually comprises at least a hard disk on whichdata can be stored, changed and deleted. The external data storage 2comprises on one hand removable data media such as for example floppydisks, CD-ROM (Compact Disks-Read-Only Memory—a type of optical disk),DVD (Digital Versatile Disks—another type of optical disk) memory tokenas e.g. memory sticks, or multi media devices, e.g. cameras or musicplayers usually containing removable data storage media or hard disksthemselves. On the other hand the external data storage 2 comprisesremote data storage media such as for example shared network drives. TheRW Devices 13 are capable of reading and/or writing to the external datastorage 2 and summarize for example on one hand floppy disk drives,CD-ROM drives, DVD drives and ports for the multimedia devices or thememory token such as e.g. USB (Universal Serial Bus) or Firewire, forthe use of the removable data storage media, and on the other handnetwork ports for the use of the remote data storage media. Connected tothe computer 1 is a network LAN/WAN 3 (Local Area Network/Wide AreaNetwork as e.g. the Internet) by a link 4 which can be either a wiredlink or a wireless link. The LAN/WAN 3 is usually used by malware todeploy and to get access to computer 1.

Typically the computer 1 is running an OS (Operating System—e.g.Microsoft® Windows®, UNIX, OS/2 or Linux) which is the system programresponsible for the direct control and management of hardware includingthe data storage 157 (see FIG. 2) and basic system operations, as wellas running application software. The central module of the OS loadedfirst while booting the computer 1 and remaining in the RAM 11 usuallyis called kernel. Typically the kernel is responsible for memorymanagement, process and task management, user interfacing, and diskmanagement. Because it stays in RAM 11, it is important for the kernelto be as small as possible while still providing all the essentialservices required by other parts of the operating system and byapplication software.

FIG. 2 illustrates one preferable architecture of an implementation ofthe inventive computer protection technique against malware affection inthe computer 1. The implementation is separated by a boundary 14/15 in aupper user mode 14 and a lower kernel mode 15. The user mode 14comprises a user application layer 142 which illustrates applicationprograms accessible by a user. One user application in the userapplication layer 142 is a protected administration application 141allowing a verified user to adjust and to administer the computerprotection against malware affection. Between the kernel mode 15 and theuser application layer 142 a subsystem layer 140 is arranged. In thesubsystem layer 140 a protected subsystem such as e.g. Win32 forWindows® by Microsoft® Corporation or POSIX for UNIX and Linux isrunning providing interfaces to the user application layer 142, i.e.routines, protocols, and tools for building and running applications,and hiding the kernel mode layers to the user of the computer 1. Thesubsystem layer 140 passes input/output requests of the user applicationlayer 142 to a I/O system service layer 150 (Input/Output) in the kernelmode 15 containing I/O system services. The I/O system services areprovided by a I/O manager layer 151 lying under the I/O system servicelayer 150 which prepares input/output request packets corresponding tothe input/output requests received by the subsystem layer 140 and whichpasses the input/output request packets to a file system filter driver153 of a system driver layer 152. The system driver layer 152 comprisesvarious registered system drivers containing said file system filterdriver 153 as an implementation of a filter module and the file systemdrivers 154 such as e.g. NTFS, FAT or CDFS drivers. The file systemfilter driver 153 detects a format of data affected by the input/outputrequest packets, blocks input/output request packets for data of apredefined format and passes input/output request packets for data otherthan of the predefined format to the file system drivers 154. Under thesystem driver layer 152 the HAL 155 (Hardware Abstraction Layer) issituated comprising device drivers 156 which control the data storage157. The file system drivers 154 pass the input/output request packetsto the HAL 155 in which the storage of the data is completed. Besidesthe user mode 14 and besides the kernel mode 15 lies the registry 16 asa system database used to store configuration information in all layersdescribed above.

For an embodiment of the present invention that relies on Windows®kernel drivers, and in particular file system filter drivers, anoverview of these issues, and the concept of I/O services in the kernelin general, will now be provided with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Such adescription will aid in an understanding of a Windows®-based embodimentof the present invention, and how it differs from the prior art, but itwill be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to aWindows®-based environment (for example, on modern operating systems,e.g. Microsoft® Windows® and Unix®, software runs either in user mode,such as Outlook, or in kernel mode, such as services like networkdrivers and TCP/IP stacks).

An embodiment of the present invention will sometimes be referred toherein by the term “HDF”, which stands for Hardware Disk Firewall, afunction that is effectively performed by an embodiment of the presentinvention.

The term device driver refers to the software that controls theoperation of a particular class of hardware devices, e.g. hard disk ortape drive. There are many classes of drivers, e.g. video drivers andnetwork drivers [seehttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/foundation/DrvRoadmap.mspx]. Thedevice drivers of interest in context of an embodiment of the presentinvention are file system drivers such as NTFS and FAT. User mode Win32application programs do not run in the kernel space.

The Windows® architecture does not allow applications direct access tohardware, using the software protection layer called ‘HardwareAbstraction Layer’ (HAL), and it defines device-independent interfacesfor applications to I/O operations on hardware devices. This abstractionenables applications to request I/O operations without regard to thephysical characteristics of the underlying hardware devices.

Typical I/O operations on a hardware storage device are read and writerequests. The kernel maintains a data structure called “servicesdispatch” tables. The tables map user mode function calls to Windowsnative APIs (Application Programming Interface), which are not fullydocumented. When an application makes a function call, the user modefunction call (API) is mapped to the appropriate kernel native APIcall(s) and serviced by the kernel. For example, a user mode call toCreateFile( . . . ) is mapped to kernel function call ZwCreateFile( . .. ).

Some applications, for example the FileMonster® application, manipulatethese undocumented dispatch tables [“Undocumented Windows 2000 Secrets:A Programmer's Cookbook” by Sven Schreiber, ISBN: 0201721872] and modifythe entries to intercept system calls. Since Microsoft® has notdocumented nor recommended this approach, it is not considered goodpractice for system stability. For example, it two applications modifythe dispatch tables, the system may not work correctly.

Windows provides I/O services by the I/O system services and I/O Managerkernel components. When an I/O request is received from the I/O systemservices component, the I/O Manager creates a data structure called anI/O Request Packet (IRP). The IRP is used to package and to dispatch therequest and control messages to the target device driver via functioncodes. The function code is embedded in an IRP that a driver receivesand acts on.

A driver implements and services function codes such as IRP_MJ_CREATE,IRP_MJ_CLOSE and IRP_MJ_DEVICE_CONTROL etc. and reports back status oncompletion. For example, when a Win32 application makes a CreateFile( .. . ) call, the I/O Manager calls the target driver's IRP_MJ_CREATEfunction code. Later, when the application calls ReadFile( . . . ) orWriteFile( . . . ), the I/O Manager dispatches IRP_MJ_READ orIRP_MJ_WRITE calls in the IRP. Likewise, when the application closes thefile handle, IRP_MJ_CLOSE is called. The I/O Manager also returns an I/Orequest result to the caller, e.g. succeeded or failed.

Windows has a layered-drivers architecture that allows other kerneldrivers to intercept IRPs destined to a target device driver. Theintended purpose is to provide additional services; these interceptingdrivers are called file system filter drivers, or just filter drivers.The filter driver used in an embodiment of the present invention willreferred to herein as the “HDF” (filter) driver, or Hardware DiskFirewall filter driver, and is a file system filter driver thatintercepts I/O requests to the file systems, e.g. NTFS.

In its initialization routine DriverEntry( . . . ), the HDF driverinforms the I/O Manager the I/O requests it wants to intercept, byregistering the necessary I/O function codes, and callsIoAttachDeviceByPointer( . . . ). The I/O Manager then dispatches IRPs,that are destined to the target drivers, first to the HDF filter driverfor processing. HDF can request to receive only IRPs of interest but notall IRPs as explained here. The I/O Manager, on loading a driver, callsthe “entry point” DriverEntry( ),and passes in a pointer of a datastructure (the driver's DriverObject) together with a text string of itsRegistry path, which is not hard-coded so that HDF knows where to findits registry parameters. HDF performs initialization in DriverEntry( )and fills out some, although not necessarily all, of the Driver Objectstructure's data members before returning to the I/O Manager. One datamember is an array of IRPs of interest, for example“DriverObject→MajorFunction[IRP_MJ_CREATE]=HDFCreate;”. In this case,HDFCreate( ) is called when there is a IRP_MJ_CREATE; one or more ofIRP_MJ_WRITE, IRP_MJ_READ, IRP_MJ_FILE_SYSTEM_CONTROL andIRP_MJ_DEVICE_CONTROL are also registered (it is useful tointercept_READ to protect the HDF application image files themselvesfrom unauthorized access so that other processes are prevented fromopening application files relating to HDF. The read and write IRPs canbe used for the purpose of blocking executables with unconventionalextensions as set out elsewhere in this description).

The HDF driver intercepts I/O requests to create a new file(IRP_MJ_CREATE). The interception allows the HDF driver to inspect thefile extension of the impending file create operation without the needto scan the file data. To deny the creation of executable files, the HDFdriver blocks all write requests of execution code on the system. Thisis achieved by returning a status ‘STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED’ to the I/OManager, which then fails the request and informs the callerapplication, e.g. Internet Explorer.

This is illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows the signal flow for twodifferent attempted save operations: (a) an attempt to save apotentially harmful executable file “keylog.exe” to the storage medium157; and (b) an attempt to save a harmless data file “business.doc” tothe storage medium 157. As illustrated, the HDF filter driver 153 blocksthe write attempt for “keylog.exe”, but not that for “business.doc”.

(It should be noted that checking file-extension is a common approach toidentify file types on Windows platforms. On a Unix-based computer,executable files are identified by file attributes, for example. Thepresent invention is not to be understood as limited to any particularmethod of determining the file type on any particular operating system.)

The protection of existing executable files is a side-effect of using atechnique embodying the present invention, for the following reasons.For a malware to modify an existing executable file, the creation of anew file is still required, since the modified file is written back tothe storage as a new file. Therefore, an attempt to modify an existingexecutable file on the storage will be caught by checking forIRP_MJ_CREATE as set out above. There does not need to be a check as towhether a completely new file is being created and written, or whetherit is an existing file that is being modified and then written back as anew file.

For any data that is written to storage, there is always anIRP_MJ_CREATE (to create a new file, whether it be for completely newdata or for data modified from an existing file) followed by anIRP_MJ_WRITE (to actually write the data to the storage), arriving indifferent IRPs. If the file extension of a file to be created ormodified is recognised as an executable, then the IRP_MJ_CREATE checkwill be sufficient to catch the malware at the time of requesting a newfile, and this will block any attempt to create or modify the file.

However, in an attack scenario where malware tries to create or modifyan executable file without an expected file extension, e.g. keylog.abc,then the file will pass the above IRP_MJ_CREATE check. To handle such ascenario, the HDF driver can inspect the impending file's data for thePE file header (for which, see below). This is desirable because the HDFdriver would otherwise not deny the writing or modification of‘keylog.abc’ because it has a non-executable file extension. For thispurpose, the HDF driver can also intercept the write data request(IRP_MJ_WRITE). If the I/O request is detected as writing executioncode, i.e. PE file structure, then the HDF driver would deny the I/Orequest by returning a status ‘STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED’ to the I/O Managerwhich then fails the request and informs the caller application, e.g.and Outlook® email client. With this method it is only necessary tocheck the PE header, unlike known anti-virus tool which have to scan theentire file for a malware signature because all executables will have aPE header.

For the reasons mentioned above, an attempt by a trojan or malware toattach itself to an existing executable would be caught, since it needsto write/add itself to the target image file. HDF can block AlternativeData Stream (ADS) as well. If it is DLL-injection type of attack, thenthe malware does not need to change the target executable but just“injects” itself in the target memory space and piggybacks on thehijacked process, which performs the deeds of the malware. The attack isto make the target process load and run the attacker's DLL. However, themalware needs to transfer itself (execution body, as a DLL mostly) tothe victim machine and cannot do it “over the web”. HDF would notprotect against memory-based attacks as such, but would stop the DLLbeing installed to the computer, which is essential for this attack towork.

Exceptions to blocking are provided to allow explicitly-approved writerequests. Before returning a ‘STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED’, the HDF driverchecks if the user has defined a rule to indicate that either (a) therequesting process is trusted or (b) the system account under which therequest made is trusted. If there is an affirmative match, the HDFdriver passes the I/O request to the destined device driver, e.g. NTFS,to perform the requested operation, via a call IoCallDriver( . . . )with the original IRP.

Under Microsoft® Windows® 32-bits operating systems, all nativeapplications are Win32 executables. The operating system loads and runsexecution code and does not differentiate if the code is legitimate ornot, i.e. whether the user allows running of the specific code. Forbrevity, access control list (ACL) and user privileges will not bedescribed here, which are largely irrelevant in the context of anembodiment of the present invention. With HDF, write-denial controlwould not typically be affected by the access control list (ACL)settings nor user privilege on the computer.

To run an application, the OS checks whether the execution code conformsto the Portable Executable File Format specification, e.g. PE format onall Windows 32-bit operation systems. This applies also to interpretedcode, e.g. VB script, and Microsoft® specifies the interpreted code‘run-time-engine’ must be in PE format.

The PE format is a Microsoft® specification that all PE files have astandard file structure with an “IMAGE_NT_HEADERS” signature, code anddata sections. A PE file starts with two signature characters ‘MZ’(called the DOS MZ header) and followed, after a DOS stub, by another PEsignature with the characters ‘PE\0\0’.

The OS recognizes an executable file by its file extension, and theloader ensures it is a valid PE file when loading the file and run theexecution code. A requirement for execution code is that the executablefile must be accessible on disk, local or remote, i.e. the executioncode cannot reside on a remote Web server.

Checking the existence of the PE file format structure is a documentedmethod by which the HDF driver can identify an executable file. Thismethod is also used by other anti-malware applications for differentpurposes to HDF.

The NT kernel treats its internal entities as objects, these objectsrepresent files, devices and so on. The kernel internal objects can beeither named or unnamed. For named device drivers, the kernel maintainstwo lists of names in its internal object tree database. Each nameddevice driver, e.g. the HDF filter driver, may have two names in thedatabase. One is the driver's NT device name (Microsoft's terminology)intended for a driver to refer to the device it manages, and the otheris a ‘symbolic link’ name. Of particular interest in an embodiment ofthe present invention is the HDF driver's symbolic link name, which isdescribed as the driver's identifier for brevity here. It is noted thatthese internal names are not the driver image file name. For example,the HDF driver's NT device name might be “Device\HDFIoCtl”, its symboliclink name might be “DosDevice\HDF” (default), and the image filefilename might be “HDF.SYS” (which would generally not change).

Both the NT device name and symbolic link name are supplied by thedevice driver to the operating system kernel, typically during thedriver's initialization routine. A device driver creates the NT devicename by a kernel API call IoCreateDevice( . . . ), and the symbolic linkname by a call to IoCreateSymbolicLink( . . . ).

The symbolic link name is for the sole purpose of making the drivervisible to user mode applications. A user mode application requires adriver's symbolic link name in a function call to communicate with thedriver. When an application requires to communicate with a devicedriver, it calls Win32 APIs CreateFile( . . . ) passing in the driver'ssymbolic link name as a parameter, followed by DeviceIoControl( . . . )using the returned driver's handle as parameter. An application is notable to use the driver NT device name that is visible in the kernelspace only.

To control computer storage devices, HDF is implemented at the operatingsystem kernel level close to the hardware layer drivers. Technically,HDF is a “file system filter driver” in the Microsoft® operating systemarchitecture. HDF intercepts ‘write-file’ instruction (not API calls)issued by the system to the file system drivers.

In the initialization routine, the HDF driver makes the function callsof IoRegisterFsRegistrationChange( . . . ) and IoAttachDeviceByPointer(. . . ). After the calls, the kernel I/O Manager routes I/O requeststhat bound for the target device to the HDF filter driver first (as setout above). From that point on, the HDF driver receives I/O requests toall storage devices on a system and performs write-denial control, untilthe system shuts down.

The processing of an I/O request in the kernel, and the role of HDF, isillustrated in more detail in FIG. 4. In brief, the steps shown are:

-   -   1. A user mode API call gets mapped to a kernel call.    -   2. The I/O System Services serves the I/O and . . .    -   3. involves I/O Manager.    -   4. The I/O Manager creates a new IRP for that request.    -   5. The I/O Manager sends the IRP down the driver stack, where        the HDF may intercept it.    -   6. The destined driver completes the IRP, if not blocked by HDF    -   7. The I/O request is completed.    -   8. The I/O status is copied to the subsystem address space.    -   9. The IRP is freed.    -   10. A handle and/or NT STATUS is returned.

As can be seen, HDF intercepts close to the hardware level. By contrast,an application such as FileMonster® intercepts much higher up, as markedin FIG. 4. If a blocking occurs with HDF, steps 6 to 8 are skipped, withHDF returning the IRP to I/O Manager to perform step 9.

HDF intercepts e.g. the I/O Manager's “write-file” instruction andpasses on other I/O instructions not relevant to HDF to the destinedfile system driver such as NTFS. On receiving a ‘write-file’ instructioncontained in an IRP (described above), HDF checks and acts accordingly:

-   -   If the write-file target is an executable not approved by the        user—return a “STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED” status so that the I/O        Manager informs the caller of failure. In this case, no        executable file will be stored on the target storage device (HDF        primary objective).    -   If the write-file target is an executable approved by the        user—no action by HDF and pass the IRP to the destined file        system driver to carry out the writing.    -   If the write target is not an executable, e.g. business.doc—no        action by HDF and pass the IRP to the destined file system        driver to carry out the writing.

HDF can determine if a write-file target is an executable file bychecking:

-   -   The file extension—from a Microsoft documented executable file        extensions list, and;    -   The executable file format signature called PE format, when the        file extension is not covered above (as described above).

HDF can determine if a user approves writing of an executable by:

-   -   A list of user-defined trusted processes that are allowed to        write executable files—the default being none so that no process        is allowed to write an executable file by default.    -   A list of user-defined trusted system logon accounts (user and        group account scope) that are allowed to write executable        files—the default being none so that no account privilege is        allowed to write an executable file by default.    -   User action, i.e. user turns off HDF blocking via an        administration application to install software; in one        implementation the administration application is a standard        Win32 command line application called HDFControl.exe and its GUI        counterpart HDFMonitor. exe.

The HDF driver can obtain the above two lists (trusted processes andtrusted accounts) from two sources:

-   -   The Windows specified Registry entry for driver parameters at        [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\currentControlSet\Services\driver_name\Parameters],        where driver_name is, for example, “HDF”, or    -   Passed in as parameters by the administration applications at        run time.

In general, an HDF implementation would not block writing of data ornon-executable file types, although it is simple to reconfigure HDF tocontrol writing of any file type in addition to executable file types.

The HDF driver's ability to block writing of executable files would nottypically be affected by the requesting process's account privileges.Therefore, malware would not interfere with blocking even it hasadministrator or Local System elevated privileges obtained by successfulattacks. However, to allow a user to install new software and systempatching, HDF can provide an administration application for turning offblocking temporarily. An embodiment of the present invention can use asecurity method to ensure only the intended administration applicationis able turn off HDF blocking, and such a feature can be an importantpart of HDF application security.

Three such methods will be described below for authenticating thecalling application. The first one is a completely new approach and theothers involve using existing cryptography techniques in a new contextto resolve authentication problems particularly associated within thecontext of an embodiment of the present invention.

Before a description of these authentication methods, the method bywhich a malicious process can attempt an attack will first be describedin brief.

The administration application will be sending runtime instructions tothe HDF driver, and in a secure approach the HDF driver would ensurethat the instructions come from its administration application and notother malicious process. The threat comes from impersonation attacksbecause any application can send instructions to a driver if it knowsthe driver's identifier. Technically, the term driver's identifierrefers the driver's internal ‘symbolic link name’, as described above.

The Microsoft® architecture enables an application to communicate with akernel driver by calling two functions; CreateFile( . . . ) andDeviceIoControl( . . . ). One of the function parameters is the driver'sidentifier; in an HDF context this is “DosDevices\HDF”. The driverprovides its identifier to the operating system at runtime via afunction call IoCreateSymbolicLink( . . . ). Through this call, thesystem knows by name which driver to receive a calling application'sinstruction.

The risk to HDF is that a malicious process could establish an extraillegal communication path in parallel to the administration applicationand send instructions to the HDF filter driver. For this attack to work,the malicious code needs to know the HDF driver's identifier. Typically,the driver's identifier is hard-coded in the driver execution code andan attacker can discover it with relative ease, e.g. execution codedisassembly. A runtime dynamic identifier thwarts this attack vector.Without the driver's identifier, a malicious process cannot establishcommunication nor send instructions. This forms the basis of the new HDFsolution to mitigate the attack risk, and the other methods involvingusing cryptographic means to authenticate the communication parties.There is no known method for a driver to authenticate the callingapplication. It will be appreciated that the described methods can beused in combination to further improve application security.

The first approach described herein is to use a changing dynamicdriver's identifier. The scheme is that the HDF driver changes itsidentifier during runtime via IoCreateSymbolicLink( . . . ) calls, andinforms its administration application of the newest identifier by asecure means. Since only the administration application knows HDFdriver's identifier at a specific point in time, only the administrationapplication can communicate with and send instructions to the HDFdriver. The change can be triggered by every instruction call or using atime-based scheme. If a malicious program uses an ‘expired’ identifierto send instructions to HDF driver, the system will not able to dispatchand abort the call. In essence, HDF protects its identifier fromarbitrary application to authenticate communication.

By way of further explanation, the HDF driver has a default identifierwith which the administration application can communicate for the firsttime. In the DeviceIoControl( ) call, the administration applicationpasses to the driver a custom I/O control code, e.g. unblock flag or getconfiguration settings, and a user-space data buffer. The HDF driverperforms the request function and if needed fills up the caller's databuffer. The driver can return the next identifier in the data buffer forthe caller to use the next time—this is the “every instruction call”option mentioned above. With the “time-based” option mentioned above,the driver changes its identifier and the administration applicationmakes the same change to the last used identifier independently, butaccording to some pre-arranged synchronization scheme. For example, thedriver may append a number to the end of the identifier's fixed part,e.g. HDF, so that the new identifier would be HDF29 in a scheme wherethe minutes of the hour are used; 29 minutes passed the hour in thisexample. In this case the synchronization scheme is a shared secret.

The second and third approaches will now be described. Usingcryptographic means to authenticate communication has been used insecurity applications, but is not known in the context of protecting thesending of instructions from an application to a device driver.

The second approach is to use a standard encryption algorithm such asAdvance Encryption Standard (AES—FIP 197) (note: AES is just one of manyalgorithms that can be used; other examples are RSA, DES etc.) toencrypt the communication data between the administration applicationand the HDF driver. Because only the two software components know thedata decryption key to decrypt data, the communication between theadministration application and the driver is secured. To set up theauthentication scheme, a standard method called Diffie-Hellman KeyAgreement Protocol can be used so that the calling application and theHDF driver each has a shared-secret key. A malicious process is not ableto impersonate the calling application and send false instructions tothe driver.

The third approach involves a cryptographic authentication method knownas Challenge and Response. To set up the authentication scheme, theDiffie-Hellman Key Agreement Protocol can be used so that the callingapplication and the HDF driver each has a shared-secret key. As anexample, authentication would work by the following steps:

-   -   1. The HDF driver sends a random number to the calling        application for authentication, the Challenge;    -   2. The calling application uses the shared-secret key to encrypt        the random number and returns the encrypted result to the HDF        driver, the Response;    -   3. The HDF driver then uses its shared-secret key to encrypt the        random number it generated before;    -   4. The HDF driver compares its own result and the calling        application's Response;    -   5. The authentication succeeds if the two results match, because        only the two components know the shared-secret key to compute        the encrypted values.

Taking into account the above explanations, the steps performed by anembodiment of the present invention will now be described with referenceto FIG. 5. The program logic flow of an inventive computer protectionagainst malware affection shown in FIG. 5 illustrates in more detail animplementation of the file system filter driver 153 and theadministration application 141 as described above. By way of example,the implementation is illustrated for a computer running a Microsoft®Windows® operating system.

In step S1, the file system filter driver 153 is registered with theoperating system of computer 1 as a file in a kernel mode system driver.For example, the file system filter driver 153 “name.sys” (e.g. “name”here and below may be “hdf”, so that the driver would be “hdf.sys”) isregistered by copying the program file preferably in a write protectedmanner to the according system folder, e.g. “WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\”(for Windows® XP), and the corresponding value is set in the registry16, e.g. “[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\name]”.

In step S2, parameters used for adjusting the operation of the filesystem filter driver 153 are stored in a protected key of the registry16, e.g. in the key“[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\name\Parameters]”.For example, following values are set in the protected registry key:“Active”=dword:00000001” as a flag with a predefined value foractivating and deactivating the file system filter driver 153;“Extensions”=“.COM; .EXE; .DLL; .BAT; .CMD; .OCX; .VBS; .PIF; .SCR;.CHM; .DRV; .HTA; .SHS; .WMA; .WSF; .WSH; .CPL; .CAB;” as a fileextension list for predefining the data format types to be blocked bythe file system filter driver 153; “Names” [or “Protected”]=“name.SYS;name.LOG; name.EXE; HDFMONITOR.EXE;” as a blocking list of files whichare always protected by the filter system 152 program file, the name ofthe filter system 152 program file's image files, the name(s) of anadministration application 141 program file (there may be two suchprogram names; e.g. hdfcontrol.exe and hdfmonitor.exe as set outelsewhere) and the name of a log file; “Sids”=“ ” as an empty non-blockuser id list being ready to be adapted by the administration application141 (to allow users or groups to write legitimately to storage,defaulted to empty, i.e. no user or group is allowed by default; it ispossible to separate the user ids from the group ids by specifying theformer with a “UserSids” parameter and the latter with the “Sids”parameter); “LogPath”=“C:\nameLog” as a path definition where to storethe log file reporting at least all blocking activities of the filesystem filter driver 153; and “AllowedProcesses”=“ ” provides a list ofprocess names that the user allows explicitly to write executable files;this defaults to empty but can be changed by the user with theadministration application 141. To provide maximum flexibility, HDFparameters can also be changed during runtime. However, with HDF it isnot necessary to write to the Registry during runtime, unlike for someother existing applications.

Step S1 and step S2 are part of an Initialization 5 which is conductedat least once during installation of the computer protection againstmalware affection either by an installation program of the computerprogram product according to the invention or by a system administrator.

In step S3, the file system filter driver 153 is launched either on userrequest by the administration application 141 or during each bootingprocess of the computer 1.

In step S4, the file system filter driver 153 reads the parametersstored in the registry 16 as mentioned above.

In step S5, the file system filter driver 153 creates a randomlygenerated dynamic name, registers the name with the operating system andstores the name in the registry.

In step S6, the file system filter driver 153 receives input/outputrequest packets from the input/output manager 151 and performs thefollowing:

Step S64, checking if a file name of the data file is part of theblocking list stored in the registry 16. If the file name of the datafile matches a name of the blocking list, the file system filter driver153 continues with step S7, otherwise it continues with step S60.

Step S60, checking whether the flag for activating and deactivating thefile system filter driver 153 is set to the predefined value. If theflag is set to the predefined value, the file system filter driver 153continues with step S61, otherwise it continues with step S8.

Step S61, checking whether input/output request packets received isrelated to a write access request. For example, the file system filterdriver 153 checks whether the input/output request packet includes afunction code as e.g. “IRP_MJ_CREATE”. If the input/output requestpackets are related to a write access request, the file system filterdriver 153 continues with step S62, otherwise it continues with step S8.

Step S62, checking whether the format of the data file associated withthe write access request is of the predefined format type. Preferably,the checking of the format is performed by comparing a file extension ofthe data file associated with the write access request to the fileextension list stored in the registry 16. If the data file associatedwith the write access request is detected to be of the predefined formattype the file system filter driver 153 continues with step S63,otherwise it continues with step S8.

Step S63, comparing the user identification information associated withthe write access request to the non-block user id list stored in theregistry 16. If the user id matches a user or a user group of thenon-block user id list the file system filter driver 153 continues withstep S8, otherwise it continues with step S7.

In step S7, the file system filter driver 153 blocks the write accessrequest, informs the I/O manager 151 about the blocking, and logs theblocking activity in the log file.

In step S8, the file system filter driver 153 passes the input/outputrequest packets to a subsequent system driver such as the file systemdriver 154.

Other alternative embodiments of the computer protection against malwareaffection according to the invention are realizable. Explicitlymentioned in this context are:

-   -   The file system filter driver can be placed in the kernel below        the mounted file system divers, and above the lower level        hardware driver for the storage media.    -   The data format of a data file can be detected by the file        system filter driver reading the file header of the data file.    -   Preferably the file extension list for predefining the data        format is stored on one hand in the registry and on the other        hand in a protected binary data file. The adaptations made by        the administration application affect the file extension list in        both locations. The file system filter driver reads the file        extensions from both locations and produces an error if they        don't match. Like this additional security can be implemented        into the computer protection against malware affection.

An embodiment of the present invention has one or more of the followingtechnical benefits:

-   -   It can load and run as part of the operating system such that it        cannot be disabled, i.e. during system boot up and before any        user logging in.    -   It can resist hacking and attack attempts to shut down        operation, e.g. by hostile malware or user mistakes.    -   It is able to identify and block executable files without        pattern matching.    -   It can function autonomously irrespective to system privileges        of the user account, caller processes and threads.    -   It can function transparently to users and applications. All        applications can run as normal. There is no requirement for        pop-up dialogs or other user alerts during operation.    -   It supports local, networked and removable storage devices, and        plug-and-play mounted devices are protected automatically.    -   Operations, whether blocking or non-blocking (pass through), can        be logged for audit trail purposes.    -   It has a small application footprint, and does not degrade        performance.    -   It is compatible with existing anti-virus programs, personal        firewalls and scanning tools.    -   It does not require maintenance, and has reliable operation.

An embodiment of the present invention:

-   -   Is able to prevents malware infection against a computer using        an innovative concept of blocking all executable code entering a        computer. This new approach resolves the shortcomings of current        technologies used by antivirus, anti-spyware and rootkit        detection solutions. It is a new malware-prevention method,        rather than a malware-detection approach.    -   Is able to protect against the so called “zero-day” malware and        recent rootkit spyware without false-positive, with a single        tool. “Zero-day” malware refers to malicious code that        anti-malware vendors have not yet identified or not released a        pattern signature of the malware. Rootkits are malicious        software that renders itself undetectable on infected systems.

Although the above description has focussed on the Windows family ofoperating systems, it will be appreciated that an embodiment of thepresent invention applies equally and correspondingly to other types ofoperating systems that support an architecture having a protected kernelenvironment, e.g. Unix, Linux and Mac OS. The skilled person willreadily appreciate that certain components and methods that are specificto Windows® will have corresponding components and methods in otherenvironments. As one example, using the Registry as set out above tostore HDF parameters is Windows-specific; on other environments theparameters would be stored by some other means, e.g. file-based or overthe network, e.g. using a service/daemon. In addition, use herein ofterms such as “input/output manager”, “file system filter driver” and“I/O Request Packets” (in particular their use in the appended claims)is not intended to imply any limitation to a Windows® type of operatingsystem; instead these terms are to be understood as applying to theequivalent part or parts and the equivalent messages in any other typeof operating system or environment, whatever terms are normally usedwhen describing that operating system or environment.

With Linux, for example, user applications generally cannot access thehardware directly. The Linux operating system relies on a kernelsoftware comprising various device driver types to provide userapplications input/output services to hardware, e.g. ISO 9660 filesystemfor CD-ROMs, SMB filesystem for Microsoft Windows servers. Devicedrivers are developed to integrate into kernel core software ordeveloped as ‘loadable device drivers’ modules, which are kernelcomponents but not integrated into the kernel core. ‘Loadable devicedrivers’ typically load into memory during boot-time. Device driversprovide input/output access to the hardware to which generally userapplications cannot access direct.

An embodiment of the present invention can be developed to a Linuxfilter device drivers and adapted to intercept input/output requests tohardware from user applications. In the same manner as described above,an embodiment of the present invention when implanted with on a computerunder the Linux operating system will therefore follow the policy ofdenying writing to hardware storage when the data format is determinedas execution code, for example, by examining the file's “executepermissions” attributes, because Linux executable code depend not on afile extension but on the file permissions attributes.

The current operating system for the Macintosh is Mac OS X that is builton top of the Berkeley Unix implementation (FreeBSD 4.4) and Darwin. TheOS X kernel is called XNU, which is a modern operating system with auser space and kernel core architecture. The kernel provides mechanismsand interfaces for user applications to make input/output requests tohardware devices through a kernel software called “I/O Kit”. The I/O Kitcomponent is the kernel device driver framework and includes numerousdevice driver types for e.g. hard disks and other storage devices.

Mac OS X, like other OSs, uses files and directories to store data andexecution code, and identifies file types by file extensions. Executablefiles are organized into a directory together with its resource files(unlike Windows® executables which store execution code and resources inthe same file, *.EXE), and is called an “application bundle”. The I/OKit framework supports driver stacking which is a similar concept toWindows layered-drivers architecture as described above. The driverstacking features allow a skilled person to develop a filtering moduleto intercept writing of executables to storage devices following thesame principles as set out above in the main description of anembodiment of the present invention to achieve protection from malwareinfection.

The skilled person will readily appreciate how to adapt the presentinvention for use with other such types of operating system, andoperating systems for other types of computing devices such as handhelddevices, cell phones, Smartphones, PocketPCs, Personal DigitalAssistants (PDAs), Blackberry® devices, TV set-top boxes and any futuresuch devices having a computing (CPU) unit and storage. The terms“computer” and “computer program” in the appended claims are intended tocover such devices.

Although the above description has referred to a program stored on acomputer-readable medium, it will be appreciated that a computer programembodying the present invention need not be stored on acomputer-readable medium and could, for example, be embodied in a signalsuch as a downloadable data signal provided from an Internet website.The appended claims are to be interpreted as covering a computer programby itself, or as a record on a carrier, or as a signal, or in any otherform.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of preventing malware from beingwritten, by an application, to a permanent or persistent data storage ofa computer, the method comprising: providing a filter module in anoperating system of the computer, wherein the filter module is arrangedto operate between an input/output management system of the operatingsystem and a driver associated with the data storage, wherein theinput/output management system is arranged to operate between theapplication and the driver associated with the data storage, and whereinthe filter module is further arranged to, prior to and without storingany data in a file in the data storage: detect an attempt by theapplication to store the data in the file in the data storage byintercepting a write access request originating from the application andintended for the driver associated with the data storage, wherein thewrite access request is a data packet or data structure comprising afunction code appropriate to the underlying architecture of theoperating system to indicate a write access request; check if a filename of the file to be created associated with the write access requestis part of a blocking list; if the file name does not match a name inthe blocking list, the filter module is further arranged to: checkwhether the data to be stored in the data storage via the detectedattempt is an executable data format or a non-executable data format byinspecting a write data request associated with the write accessrequest, wherein the write data request is a data packet or datastructure comprising a function code appropriate to the underlyingarchitecture of the operating system to indicate a write data request,to determine if the write data request includes a portion of a fileheader associated with executable data, wherein the file header is afile header appropriate to the underlying architecture of the operatingsystem to indicate executable data; if the write data request includes aportion of a file header associated with executable data, the filtermodule is further arranged to; prevent the storage of the data in thefile in the data storage and return an indication that the request isdenied to the input/output management system; thereby blocking anunauthorized attempt to write data to the data storage that couldpotentially constitute malware without having to examine or screen thedata content, and thereby preventing malware from propagating at itspropagation phase by preventing execution code of the data from beingsaved to the data storage.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein theapplication is a system process.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprisingproviding an administration application to enable the user to turn offthe blocking, in order to allow the user to install software or performother routine maintenance.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtermodule is provided as a file system filter driver in a kernel of theoperating system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the input/outputmanagement system and driver associated with the data storage form partof a kernel of the operating system.
 6. A computer program embodied in anon-transitory computer-readable medium which, when run on a computer,causes the computer to carry out a method as claimed in claim
 1. 7. Acomputer comprising a permanent or persistent data storage, an operatingsystem for managing the data storage, and a filter module provided inthe operating system for thwarting malware at its propagation phase toprotect the computer against malware infection, the filter module beingarranged to operate between an input/output management system of theoperating system and a driver associated with the data storage, whereinthe input/output management system is arranged to operate between anapplication and the driver associated with the data storage, and whereinthe filter module is further arranged to, prior to and without storingany data in a file in the data storage: detect an attempt by theapplication to store the data in the file in the data storage byintercepting a write access request originating from the application andintended for the driver associated with the data storage, wherein thewrite access request is a data packet or data structure comprising afunction code appropriate to the underlying architecture of theoperating system to indicate a write access request; check if a filename of the file to be created associated with the write access requestis part of a blocking list; if the file name does not match a name inthe blocking list, the filter module is further arranged to: checkwhether the data to be stored in the data storage via the detectedattempt is an executable data format or a non-executable data format byinspecting a write data request associated with the write accessrequest, wherein the write data request is a data packet or datastructure comprising a function code appropriate to the underlyingarchitecture of the operating system to indicate a write data request,to determine if the write data request includes a portion of a fileheader associated with executable data, wherein the file header is afile header appropriate to the underlying architecture of the operatingsystem to indicate executable data; if the write data request includes aportion of a file header associated with executable data, the filtermodule is further arranged to; prevent the storage of the data in thefile in the data storage and return an indication that the request isdenied to the input/output management system; thereby blocking anunauthorized attempt to write data to the data storage that couldpotentially constitute malware without having to examine or screen thedata content, and thereby preventing malware from propagating at itspropagation phase by preventing execution code of the data from beingsaved to the data storage.
 8. A computer program embodied in anon-transitory computer-readable medium which, when loaded into acomputer, causes the computer to become one as claimed in claim
 7. 9.The computer of claim 7 wherein the application a system process. 10.The computer of claim 7, comprising providing an administrationapplication to enable the user to turn off the blocking, in order toallow the user to install software or perform other routine maintenance.11. The computer of claim 7, wherein the filter module is provided as afile system filter driver in a kernel of the operating system.
 12. Thecomputer of claim 7, wherein the input/output management system anddriver associated with the data storage form part of a kernel of theoperating system.